dataset · Wales
Water Framework Directive (WFD) Operational Catchments Cycle 2
Operational catchments are a way of grouping Water Framework Directive (WFD) waterbodies together at a meaningful scale smaller than the management catchment or River Basin District. The river waterbodies are not always hydrologically linked as they may have been grouped based on pressures and measures. This data set is based on the surface water boundaries of operational catchments and excludes the underlying Groundwater data.
Visit source ↗Source details
Licence: ["There are no access restrictions on this data. NRW may release, publish or disseminate it freely.", "\u00a9 CNC/NRW Data may be re-used under the terms of the Open Government Licence providing it is
Evidence quality: 53.1
Listed in data.gov.uk public catalogue API on 2026-10-16; relevance/value screened (haiku).
Metadata checked: 2026-10-14T13:20:00.000Z
What's in it
- Data offered docs-verified
- Operational catchment boundaries (surface water) · Grouping of WFD waterbodies into operational catchments
- Coverage llm-inferred
- Wales · 2015-12-31 (dataset reference/publication date; time span not stated)
- Update frequency docs-verified
- as needed (no fixed schedule)
- Formats docs-verified
- WMS (Web Mapping Service) · download (file format not stated)
- Access docs-verified
- Free/open; no access restrictions. Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 per entry metadata.
Useful for
- Use cases llm-inferred
- Map which operational catchment a site or scheme drains to before pulling WFD waterbody status for a Welsh FRA or EIA · Group Welsh river waterbodies by operational catchment for catchment-scale pressure and measures screening · Define surface water catchment units for drainage or pollution risk reporting in Wales
- Audience llm-inferred
- hydrologists · environmental consultants · flood risk consultants · planners · GIS analysts
Limitations
- Constraints docs-verified
- Surface water boundaries only; underlying groundwater data is excluded · River waterbodies in a catchment are not always hydrologically linked · Dataset reference date is 2015-12-31 while the page was updated 16 September 2026, so check the version · Wales only (extent covers Wales)
Evidence
- https://datamap.gov.wales/layers/inspire-nrw:NRW_WFD_OPERATIONAL_CATCHMENTS_C2
- https://www.data.gov.uk/dataset/a916e3aa-d7e5-44c8-bed7-0b63b3812e03/water-framework-directive-wfd-operational-catchments-cycle-224
Check upstream coverage, uncertainty and licence before use. Station observations are not forecasts or design levels.